Monday, March 26, 2007

In those long days before myfirstbook (see below and soon above) hits the shelves I stocked up on even more booksbyothers than I usually do in such a time span. Among them was Stephen Shore's "The Nature of Photographs" (Phaidon). An all-purpose book: for those with more than a slight and those with more than enough interest in photography; for those who tend to own only a handful of books on photography and for those who have to have them all.

Shore as a teacher. I'll borrow his last paragraph (which sounds familiar):

When I make a photograph, my perceptions feed into my mental model. My model adjusts to accommodate my perceptions (leading me to change my photographic decisions). This modelling adjustment alters, in turn, my perceptions. And so on. It is a dynamic, self-modifying process. It is what an engineer would call a feedback loop.It is a complex, ongoing, spontaneous interaction of observation, understanding, imagination, and intention.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Two days ago my first book came into physical existence. It was printed in Salzburg which is where my publisher sits (Edition Fotohof im Otto Müller Verlag). Being a control freak I wanted to overlook the whole process. But there was not a lot to do. Just suggesting to put more magenta in some of the faces. That was it. The operators and their new machine did a great job. Might just cut back on that control freakishness of mine somewhere along the way...

The book is about four divided towns on Eastern European borders. It´s title is "Die da drüben" (something like "Them over there"). It is a photo book with a rather huge amount of text which unfortunately comes in German only. Dreaming of having an edition in English one day soon.

Read more about my first book in later posts (keep calling it "first book" for it sounds promising...)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Slow beginnings. Please be patient like I am (which is a lie).Always rejected the idea of having a blog. Consumption seemed ok to me, involvement or production were left to others. That was arrogant - and that was yesterday.

For example I got myself an iPod just to know how it feels to have all one's music available at any given time and to find out about the aura of acoustic art in post-Benjamin times. But you can just as well enjoy having one with you which is what I do today.

As of now I have a blog. Just to know how it feels to have one.There will be some bragging, some news and entertainment - the usual.I might just as well enjoy it right away. Hope you will too.